Car-door construction and mounting therefor



Aug. 4, 1925.; 1,548,170

E. POSSON CAR DOOR CONSTRUCTION AND MOUNTING THEREFOR Filed-May 9, 1925 I 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 7' MM Paois'orz/ Aug. 4, 1925. 1,548,170

E. PossoN CAR DOOR CONSTRUCTION AND MOUNTING THEREFOR Filed May 9, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Aug. 4, 1925.

E. PossoN CAR DOOR CONSTRUCTION AND MOUNTING 'fHEREFOR Eiled May 9, 1923 s Sheet's'-She et s .jmzzZZr Mara j ossora v openings of railway freight cars.

Patented Aug. 4, 1925.

UNITED s'ra'rss PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD POSSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO CAMEL COMPANY, OF CHICAGO,

ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

CAR-DOOR CONSTRUCTION AND MOUNTING THEREFOR.

Application filed Kay 9,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD PossoN, a citizen of the United States, residin at Chicago, in the county of Cook and tate of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in. Gar-Door Constructions and Mountings Therefor, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to sliding doors such as are commonly used for the side One object of the invention is to provide an improved construction of the body of the door whereby it may be made very strong and rigid, with a minimum of weight, and better adapted to receive the fittings which must be applied to it for mounting it upon the car, controlling its movements, and looking it in closed position. Accordingly, one feature of the invention consists in framing the door of angle bars rigidly united at the four corners of the door, faced with a sheet or sheets of metal firmly riveted to the frame, and reinforced at intervals by wooden battens or strips arranged horizontally with their ends in abutment against the vertical stiles of the frame in a manner to resist or distribute shocks transmitted to the latter at points inter mediate of the top and bottom rails of the frame; such battens. being preferably located where they will stiffen the door sheet behind the locking and starting device and doorstop, or other fittings for the door, as well as at places immediately in rear of seams or splices that may be required in making up the facing of a plurality of sheets.

Another object of the invention is to utilize the top and bottom mountings of the door for the pur ose of stiffening the framing; and, accordingly, another'feature consists in roviding for the top and bottom, combine gussets and securing hooks riveted to the vertical and horizontal framing members, adjacent the corners, so that they not only occupy these ositions of advantage in sup rt of the cor, but stiffen the angles of t e door a inst distortion; the top corner gussets bemg preferably developed in the form of safety hooks which come into play in case the door is disengaged from its bottom track and the bottom gussets combining'jin t eir structure 1923. Serial no. 687,687.

roller housings and track embracing fingers Wl'llCh resist displacement of the door from its track.

Still another object of the invention is to provide, in combination with a corner gusset and mounting, a door stop which will encounter the fixed stop on'the car at the limit of the movement of the door and absorb the shock incident to arresting the movement of the door by distributing it through the longitudinal rail of the door as well as in the edgewise direction of the sheet; this feature of the invention being preferably embodied in the lower rear door mounting, which thus becomes a combined corner gusset, door stop, roller housing, and

mg r. I

illll another object is to provide a stop on the door at a point intermediate the top and bottom thereof, and particularly such an intermediate door stop as will be adapted to save the weathering plate from impact incident to, arresting the movement of the door. Accordingly, another feature of the invention resides in an intermediate door stop fashioned for attachment to the face of the door, but ofl'set inwardly to brin it in the plane of the edge of the door, w ere it.

has a shoulder abutting against said edge outside of the weathermg strip, and stlll another ofl'set inwardly so that it extends across the plane of the weatherin strip and renders impossible contact of the atter with the fixed stop on the car prepared to receive the intermediate door stop.

The preferred embodiment of the several features of the present invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a .freight car carrying a door in which the several features of the invention are embodied.

Figure 2 is a horizontal section on the line 2-2 of Figure '1.

Figure 3 is a view corresponding to Fig-, ure 1 showing the lower portion of the car door on an enlarged scale.

Fi re 4 is a section on the line i -4* of Figure 1.,

Figure 5 is a sectionvon the line 5"'-'5 of Figure 1. I

Figure 6 1s a section on the line 6-6. of Figure 1,

Figure 7 is a detail view of the lower readr door mounting on a still larger scale; an

Figure 8 is a top plan view of parts shown in Figure 7.

A represents a portion of a freight car, and B a door mounted to slide parallel to the face of the car for opening and closing a side opening of the car. The doorB is framed with Z-bar bottom rail 1 (Figure 5), Z-bar top rail 2 (Figure 6) and Z-bar vertical stiles 3 and 4 (Figure 2) and upon this frame is riveted a sheet 5 preferably composed of sections riveted together along the seams 5 and 5 and secured to the respective members which outline the frame through means of rivets 6.

The door has at its upper corners combined gussets and safety hooks 7 and 8, composed, respectively, of vertical arms 7, 8 riveted to the vertical stiles of the door frame, horizontal arms 7", 8 riveted to the top rail of the door frame, and safety hooks 7, 8 which, as shown in Fi ure 6, are in position to rest upon the sa'ety flange 9 of the top guide 9, in case the bottom of the door should leave its supporting track; the vertical flang 2 of the top Z-bar 2 of the frame being located in rear of the top guide 9 to resist outward displacement .of the top of the door. From this it will be seen that the combined corner gussets and safety hooks are secured directly to the framing of the door in a manner to make a more reliable mounting and to strengthen the angle of the door.

t the bottom, the door carries the gussets 10 and 11, secured respectively, at 10 and 11 to the vertica stiles of the door frame and at 10 and 11 to the bottom rail of the door frame, but here the gussets are combined with roller housin s 10 and 11 and safet fingers 10, -11 t rough which the door is related, in a known manner, to the bottom track 12. In addition to serving the function of-a corner gusset, roller housing, and safety fin ers, the gusset 11 is further provided wit a rearward projection 11 which ada ts it to serve as a door stop in the path 0 the fixed car stop 13 at the rear end of the track 12.

Mounted intermediately 'of the to and bottom on the rear edge of the door is'a door stop 14, comprising a face plate 14" through which it is riveted to the vertical stile 4 of the door frame (see Figure 4), an inwardly oflset portion 14 through which it enters into abutment against the rear edge of the door, and with a further inwardly offset portion 14 through which it encounters the fixed stop 15 on the car body when the door reaches the limit of its rearward movement. By the portions 14 and 14, the door stop 14 overlies and protects the weathering strip 16 on the rear edge of the door and prevents it from becoming distorted by impact with the fixed stop 15.

To further strengthen the door without greatly adding to its weight, and to afford support for other features in its construction, the door is provided, as shown more clearly in Figure 5 (see also Figures 2 and 4) with a batten 17 fitted to the lower Z-bar 1 and backing up the bottom gussets 10 and 11; a batten 18 behind the riveted seam 5 and backing up the locking and starting device 19 (Figure 1) a batten 20 behind the riveted seam 5 and backing up the intermediate door stop 14; and such other battens as may be found desirable. These several battens help to distribute the stresses from one side of the door to the other, as well as to sustain the door sheet from injury by internal or external impact, and permit the use of a flat sheet, if desired, as Well as other features of construction that make the door very light in comparison with its strength.

Preferably, the intermediate battens 18 and 20 are reinforced by structural iron members 21, for instance, Z-bars, as shown in Figure 5, the wooden member being as sociated with the structural member in substantially the same way as at the bottom rail of the door frame, thus forming a composite batten or sustaining member.

I claim:

. 1. In a freight car having a door-way and a door, a top guide over the doorway constructed with an outwardly presented safety flange, and combined gussets and safety hooks mounted upon the upper corners of the door in positions to engage said flange.

2. In a freight car having a door-way and a door, a confining flange projecting upwardly from the door, a top guide in front of said flange carrying an outwardly pre sented safety flange, and combined gussets and safety hooks secured to the intersecting top and side margins of the door and presenting their hooks above said safety flange.

3. A combined gusset plate door support and door stop for freight car doors.

4. In combination with the sliding door of a freight car, a corner gusset secured to the vertical and horizontal margins of the door near a corner thereof, and a door stop integral with said gusset and adapted to distribute through the gusset to both said portions of the door the impact incident to arresting the door by said stop.

5. In a freight car door, an intermediate door stop comprising a face portion through which it is attached to the face of the door, an offset portion through which it abuts against the rear edge of the door, and a further offset portion through which it encounters a fixed stop on the car.

6. In combination with a freight car door and a rear weathering strip, a door stop se cured to the door, having an offset through which it abuts against the door, and'a further offset through which it crosses the plane of the Weathering strip and prevents contact of the latter with a fixed stop on the car.

7. In combination with a freightcar door having a weathering strip, a door stop having means through which it is secured to the door and. having an offset extending through the plane of the weathering; strip and adapted to prevent contact of the latter with a fixed stop in the path thereof.

. 8. A freight car door, comprising marginal framing members of angle bar, a facing sheet secured to said framing members, and Wooden battens behind intermediate portions of said sheet extending between opposite framing members.

9. In a freight car door, marginal framing members of. angle bar, a sheet secured to said framing members, combined gusset plates and door supports secured to corners of the door, and a batten of woodqextending from side to'side of the door gussets and door supports.

10. In a freight car door, a-metal bar frame defining the edges of the door, a sheet secured to said frame, an intermediate bat ten of wood behind said sheet having abutments at its respective ends against opposite framing members of the door, and a doorbehind said of sections riveted together, secured at its edges to said frame, and intermediate strengthening members extending between two members of the door frame behind the sheet and comprising a Z-bar and a batten,

the Z-bar being positioned to present one of its flanges in supporting relation to the sheet and with its web in position to receive the edge of the batten. v

13. In a freight car door, a marginal frame of structural metal members, a sheet riveted to said frame, and. an intermediate sustaining member for said sheet extending between two opposite members of the frame and consisting of a flanged bar of metal with the flange presented in position-to receive thesheet.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, this 25 day of Apr., 1923'.

EDWARD POSSON. 

